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Computer
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Computer
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A computer is a general-purpose electronic device that can be programmed to carr
y out a set of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. Since a sequence
of operations can be readily changed, the computer can solve more than one kind
of problem.
Conventionally, a computer consists of at least one processing element, typicall
y a central processing unit (CPU), and some form of memory. The processing eleme
nt carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control uni
t can change the order of operations in response to stored information. Peripher
al devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source, and the re
sult of operations saved and retrieved.
Mechanical analog computers started appearing in the first century and were late
r used in the medieval era for astronomical calculations. In World War II, mecha
nical analog computers were used for specialized military applications such as c
alculating torpedo aiming. During this time the first electronic digital compute
rs were developed. Originally they were the size of a large room, consuming as m
uch power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs).[1]
Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times
more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space.[2] Com
puters are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and mobile computers can be
powered by small batteries. Personal computers in their various forms are icons
of the Information Age and are generally considered as "computers". However, the
embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft a
nd from electronic toys to industrial robots are the most numerous.
Contents [hide]
1
Etymology
2
History
2.1
Pre-twentieth century
2.2
First general-purpose computing device
2.3
Later analog computers
2.4
Digital computer development
2.4.1 Electromechanical
2.4.2 Vacuum tubes and digital electronic circuits
2.4.3 Stored programs
2.4.4 Transistors
2.4.5 Integrated circuits
2.5
Mobile computers become dominant
3
Programs
3.1
Stored program architecture
3.2
Machine code
3.3
Programming language
3.3.1 Low-level languages

3.3.2 High-level languages/Third Generation Language

3.4
Fourth Generation Languages
3.5
Program design
3.6
Bugs
4
Components
4.1
Control unit
4.2
Central Processing unit (CPU)
4.3
Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
4.4
Memory
4.5
Input/output (I/O)
4.6
Multitasking
4.7
Multiprocessing
5
Networking and the Internet
5.1
Computer architecture paradigms
6
Misconceptions
6.1
Unconventional computing
7
Future
8
Further topics
8.1
Artificial intelligence
9
Hardware
9.1
History of computing hardware
9.2
Other hardware topics
10
Software
11
Languages
11.1
Firmware
12
Types of computers
12.1
Based on uses
12.2
Based on sizes
13
Input Devices
14
Output Devices
15
Professions and organizations
16
See also
17
Notes
18
References
19
External links
Etymology
The first known use of the word "computer" was in 1613 in a book called The Yong
Mans Gleanings by English writer Richard Braithwait: "I haue read the truest co
mputer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer breathed, and he reduceth
thy dayes into a short number." It referred to a person who carried out calculat
ions, or computations. The word continued with the same meaning until the middle
of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century the word began to take on
its more familiar meaning, a machine that carries out computations.[3]
History
Main article: History of computing hardware
Pre-twentieth century
The Ishango bone
Devices have been used to aid computation for thousands of years, mostly using o
ne-to-one correspondence with fingers. The earliest counting device was probably
a form of tally stick. Later record keeping aids throughout the Fertile Crescen
t included calculi (clay spheres, cones, etc.) which represented counts of items
, probably livestock or grains, sealed in hollow unbaked clay containers.[4][5]
The use of counting rods is one example.
Suanpan (the number represented on this abacus is 6,302,715,408)
The abacus was initially used for arithmetic tasks. The Roman abacus was used in
Babylonia as early as 2400 BC. Since then, many other forms of reckoning boards

or tables have been invented. In a medieval European counting house, a checkere

d cloth would be placed on a table, and markers moved around on it according to
certain rules, as an aid to calculating sums of money.
The ancient Greek-designed Antikythera mechanism, dating between 150 to 100 BC,
is the world's oldest analog computer.
The Antikythera mechanism is believed to be the earliest mechanical analog "comp
uter", according to Derek J. de Solla Price.[6] It was designed to calculate ast
ronomical positions. It was discovered in 1901 in the Antikythera wreck off the
Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to ci
rca 100 BC. Devices of a level of complexity comparable to that of the Antikythe
ra mechanism would not reappear until a thousand years later.
Many mechanical aids to calculation and measurement were constructed for astrono
mical and navigation use. The planisphere was a star chart invented by Abu Rayha
n al-Biruni in the early 11th century.[7] The astrolabe was invented in the Hell
enistic world in either the 1st or 2nd centuries BC and is often attributed to H
ipparchus. A combination of the planisphere and dioptra, the astrolabe was effec
tively an analog computer capable of working out several different kinds of prob
lems in spherical astronomy. An astrolabe incorporating a mechanical calendar co
mputer[8][9] and gear-wheels was invented by Abi Bakr of Isfahan, Persia in 1235
.[10] Abu Rayhan al-Biruni invented the first mechanical geared lunisolar calend
ar astrolabe,[11] an early fixed-wired knowledge processing machine[12] with a g
ear train and gear-wheels,[13] circa 1000 AD.
The sector, a calculating instrument used for solving problems in proportion, tr
igonometry, multiplication and division, and for various functions, such as squa
res and cube roots, was developed in the late 16th century and found application
in gunnery, surveying and navigation.
The planimeter was a manual instrument to calculate the area of a closed figure
by tracing over it with a mechanical linkage.
A slide rule
The slide rule was invented around 1620 1630, shortly after the publication of the
concept of the logarithm. It is a hand-operated analog computer for doing multi
plication and division. As slide rule development progressed, added scales provi
ded reciprocals, squares and square roots, cubes and cube roots, as well as tran
scendental functions such as logarithms and exponentials, circular and hyperboli
c trigonometry and other functions. Aviation is one of the few fields where slid
e rules are still in widespread use, particularly for solving time distance proble
ms in light aircraft. To save space and for ease of reading, these are typically
circular devices rather than the classic linear slide rule shape. A popular exa
mple is the E6B.
In the 1770s Pierre Jaquet-Droz, a Swiss watchmaker, built a mechanical doll (au
tomata) that could write holding a quill pen. By switching the number and order
of its internal wheels different letters, and hence different messages, could be
produced. In effect, it could be mechanically "programmed" to read instructions
. Along with two other complex machines, the doll is at the Muse d'Art et d'Histo
ire of Neuchtel, Switzerland, and still operates.[14]
The tide-predicting machine invented by Sir William Thomson in 1872 was of great
utility to navigation in shallow waters. It used a system of pulleys and wires
to automatically calculate predicted tide levels for a set period at a particula
r location.
The differential analyser, a mechanical analog computer designed to solve differ

ential equations by integration, used wheel-and-disc mechanisms to perform the i

ntegration. In 1876 Lord Kelvin had already discussed the possible construction
of such calculators, but he had been stymied by the limited output torque of the
ball-and-disk integrators.[15] In a differential analyzer, the output of one in
tegrator drove the input of the next integrator, or a graphing output. The torqu
e amplifier was the advance that allowed these machines to work. Starting in the
1920s, Vannevar Bush and others developed mechanical differential analyzers.
First general-purpose computing device
A portion of Babbage's Difference engine.
Charles Babbage, an English mechanical engineer and polymath, originated the con
cept of a programmable computer. Considered the "father of the computer",[16] he
conceptualized and invented the first mechanical computer in the early 19th cen
tury. After working on his revolutionary difference engine, designed to aid in n
avigational calculations, in 1833 he realized that a much more general design, a
n Analytical Engine, was possible. The input of programs and data was to be prov
ided to the machine via punched cards, a method being used at the time to direct
mechanical looms such as the Jacquard loom. For output, the machine would have
a printer, a curve plotter and a bell. The machine would also be able to punch n
umbers onto cards to be read in later. The Engine incorporated an arithmetic log
ic unit, control flow in the form of conditional branching and loops, and integr
ated memory, making it the first design for a general-purpose computer that coul
d be described in modern terms as Turing-complete.[17][18]
The machine was about a century ahead of its time. All the parts for his machine
this was a major problem for a device with thousands of
had to be made by hand
parts. Eventually, the project was dissolved with the decision of the British Go
vernment to cease funding. Babbage's failure to complete the analytical engine c
an be chiefly attributed to difficulties not only of politics and financing, but
also to his desire to develop an increasingly sophisticated computer and to mov
e ahead faster than anyone else could follow. Nevertheless, his son, Henry Babba
ge, completed a simplified version of the analytical engine's computing unit (th
e mill) in 1888. He gave a successful demonstration of its use in computing tabl
es in 1906.
Later analog computers
Sir William Thomson's third tide-predicting machine design, 1879 81
During the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were
met by increasingly sophisticated analog computers, which used a direct mechanic
al or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. However, these
were not programmable and generally lacked the versatility and accuracy of mode
rn digital computers.[19]
The first modern analog computer was a tide-predicting machine, invented by Sir
William Thomson in 1872. The differential analyser, a mechanical analog computer
designed to solve differential equations by integration using wheel-and-disc me
chanisms, was conceptualized in 1876 by James Thomson, the brother of the more f
amous Lord Kelvin.[15]
The art of mechanical analog computing reached its zenith with the differential
analyzer, built by H. L. Hazen and Vannevar Bush at MIT starting in 1927. This b
uilt on the mechanical integrators of James Thomson and the torque amplifiers in
vented by H. W. Nieman. A dozen of these devices were built before their obsoles
cence became obvious.
By the 1950s the success of digital electronic computers had spelled the end for
most analog computing machines, but analog computers remain in use in some spec
ialized applications such as education (control systems) and aircraft (slide rul

e).
Digital computer development
The principle of the modern computer was first described by mathematician and pi
oneering computer scientist Alan Turing, who set out the idea in his seminal 193
6 paper,[20] On Computable Numbers. Turing reformulated Kurt Gdel's 1931 results
on the limits of proof and computation, replacing Gdel's universal arithmetic-bas
ed formal language with the formal and simple hypothetical devices that became k
nown as Turing machines. He proved that some such machine would be capable of pe
rforming any conceivable mathematical computation if it were representable as an
algorithm. He went on to prove that there was no solution to the Entscheidungsp
roblem by first showing that the halting problem for Turing machines is undecida
ble: in general, it is not possible to decide algorithmically whether a given Tu
ring machine will ever halt.
He also introduced the notion of a 'Universal Machine' (now known as a Universal
Turing machine), with the idea that such a machine could perform the tasks of a
ny other machine, or in other words, it is provably capable of computing anythin
g that is computable by executing a program stored on tape, allowing the machine
to be programmable. Von Neumann acknowledged that the central concept of the mo
dern computer was due to this paper.[21] Turing machines are to this day a centr
al object of study in theory of computation. Except for the limitations imposed
by their finite memory stores, modern computers are said to be Turing-complete,
which is to say, they have algorithm execution capability equivalent to a univer
sal Turing machine.
Electromechanical
By 1938 the United States Navy
r small enough to use aboard a
ich used trigonometry to solve
t. During World War II similar
.

had developed an electromechanical analog compute

submarine. This was the Torpedo Data Computer, wh
the problem of firing a torpedo at a moving targe
devices were developed in other countries as well

Replica of Zuse's Z3, the first fully automatic, digital (electromechanical) com
puter.
Early digital computers were electromechanical; electric switches drove mechanic
al relays to perform the calculation. These devices had a low operating speed an
d were eventually superseded by much faster all-electric computers, originally u
sing vacuum tubes. The Z2, created by German engineer Konrad Zuse in 1939, was o
ne of the earliest examples of an electromechanical relay computer.[22]
In 1941, Zuse followed his earlier machine up with the Z3, the world's first wor
king electromechanical programmable, fully automatic digital computer.[23][24] T
he Z3 was built with 2000 relays, implementing a 22 bit word length that operate
d at a clock frequency of about 5 10 Hz.[25] Program code was supplied on punched
film while data could be stored in 64 words of memory or supplied from the keybo
ard. It was quite similar to modern machines in some respects, pioneering numero
us advances such as floating point numbers. Replacement of the hard-to-implement
decimal system (used in Charles Babbage's earlier design) by the simpler binary
system meant that Zuse's machines were easier to build and potentially more rel
iable, given the technologies available at that time.[26] The Z3 was Turing comp
lete.[27][28]
Vacuum tubes and digital electronic circuits
Purely electronic circuit elements soon replaced their mechanical and electromec
hanical equivalents, at the same time that digital calculation replaced analog.
The engineer Tommy Flowers, working at the Post Office Research Station in Londo
n in the 1930s, began to explore the possible use of electronics for the telepho
ne exchange. Experimental equipment that he built in 1934 went into operation 5

years later, converting a portion of the telephone exchange network into an elec
tronic data processing system, using thousands of vacuum tubes.[19] In the US, J
ohn Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford E. Berry of Iowa State University developed a
nd tested the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC) in 1942,[29] the first "automatic ele
ctronic digital computer".[30] This design was also all-electronic and used abou
t 300 vacuum tubes, with capacitors fixed in a mechanically rotating drum for me
mory.[31]
Colossus was the first electronic digital programmable computing device, and was
used to break German ciphers during World War II.
During World War II, the British at Bletchley Park achieved a number of successe
s at breaking encrypted German military communications. The German encryption ma
chine, Enigma, was first attacked with the help of the electro-mechanical bombes
. To crack the more sophisticated German Lorenz SZ 40/42 machine, used for highlevel Army communications, Max Newman and his colleagues commissioned Flowers to
build the Colossus.[31] He spent eleven months from early February 1943 designi
ng and building the first Colossus.[32] After a functional test in December 1943
, Colossus was shipped to Bletchley Park, where it was delivered on 18 January 1
944[33] and attacked its first message on 5 February.[31]
Colossus was the world's first electronic digital programmable computer.[19] It
used a large number of valves (vacuum tubes). It had paper-tape input and was ca
pable of being configured to perform a variety of boolean logical operations on
its data, but it was not Turing-complete. Nine Mk II Colossi were built (The Mk
I was converted to a Mk II making ten machines in total). Colossus Mark I contai
ned 1500 thermionic valves (tubes), but Mark II with 2400 valves, was both 5 tim
es faster and simpler to operate than Mark 1, greatly speeding the decoding proc
ess.[34][35]
ENIAC was the first Turing-complete device, and performed ballistics trajectory
calculations for the United States Army.
The US-built ENIAC[36] (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the fi
rst electronic programmable computer built in the US. Although the ENIAC was sim
ilar to the Colossus it was much faster and more flexible. It was unambiguously
a Turing-complete device and could compute any problem that would fit into its m
emory. Like the Colossus, a "program" on the ENIAC was defined by the states of
its patch cables and switches, a far cry from the stored program electronic mach
ines that came later. Once a program was written, it had to be mechanically set
into the machine with manual resetting of plugs and switches.
It combined the high speed of electronics with the ability to be programmed for
many complex problems. It could add or subtract 5000 times a second, a thousand
times faster than any other machine. It also had modules to multiply, divide, an
d square root. High speed memory was limited to 20 words (about 80 bytes). Built
under the direction of John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the University of
Pennsylvania, ENIAC's development and construction lasted from 1943 to full oper
ation at the end of 1945. The machine was huge, weighing 30 tons, using 200 kilo
watts of electric power and contained over 18,000 vacuum tubes, 1,500 relays, an
d hundreds of thousands of resistors, capacitors, and inductors.[37]
Stored programs
Three tall racks containing electronic circuit boards
A section of the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the first stored-p
rogram computer.
Early computing machines had fixed programs. Changing its function required the
re-wiring and re-structuring of the machine.[31] With the proposal of the stored
-program computer this changed. A stored-program computer includes by design an
instruction set and can store in memory a set of instructions (a program) that d

etails the computation. The theoretical basis for the stored-program computer wa
s laid by Alan Turing in his 1936 paper. In 1945 Turing joined the National Phys
ical Laboratory and began work on developing an electronic stored-program digita
l computer. His 1945 report Proposed Electronic Calculator was the first specifica
tion for such a device. John von Neumann at the University of Pennsylvania, also
circulated his First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC in 1945.[19]
Ferranti Mark 1, c. 1951.
The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, nicknamed Baby, was the world's
first stored-program computer. It was built at the Victoria University of Manch
ester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill, and ran its first
program on 21 June 1948.[38] It was designed as a testbed for the Williams tube
the first random-access digital storage device.[39] Although the computer was co
nsidered "small and primitive" by the standards of its time, it was the first wo
rking machine to contain all of the elements essential to a modern electronic co
mputer.[40] As soon as the SSEM had demonstrated the feasibility of its design,
a project was initiated at the university to develop it into a more usable compu
ter, the Manchester Mark 1.
The Mark 1 in turn quickly became the prototype for the Ferranti Mark 1, the wor
ld's first commercially available general-purpose computer.[41] Built by Ferrant
i, it was delivered to the University of Manchester in February 1951. At least s
even of these later machines were delivered between 1953 and 1957, one of them t
o Shell labs in Amsterdam.[42] In October 1947, the directors of British caterin
g company J. Lyons & Company decided to take an active role in promoting the com
mercial development of computers. The LEO I computer became operational in April
1951 [43] and ran the world's first regular routine office computer job.
Transistors
A bipolar junction transistor
The bipolar transistor was invented in 1947. From 1955 onwards transistors repla
ced vacuum tubes in computer designs, giving rise to the "second generation" of
computers. Compared to vacuum tubes, transistors have many advantages: they are
smaller, and require less power than vacuum tubes, so give off less heat. Silico
n junction transistors were much more reliable than vacuum tubes and had longer,
indefinite, service life. Transistorized computers could contain tens of thousa
nds of binary logic circuits in a relatively compact space.
At the University of Manchester, a team under the leadership of Tom Kilburn desi
gned and built a machine using the newly developed transistors instead of valves
.[44] Their first transistorised computer and the first in the world, was operat
ional by 1953, and a second version was completed there in April 1955. However,
the machine did make use of valves to generate its 125 kHz clock waveforms and i
n the circuitry to read and write on its magnetic drum memory, so it was not the
first completely transistorized computer. That distinction goes to the Harwell
CADET of 1955,[45] built by the electronics division of the Atomic Energy Resear
ch Establishment at Harwell.[46][47]
Integrated circuits
The next great advance in computing power came with the advent of the integrated
circuit. The idea of the integrated circuit was first conceived by a radar scie
ntist working for the Royal Radar Establishment of the Ministry of Defence, Geof
frey W.A. Dummer. Dummer presented the first public description of an integrated
circuit at the Symposium on Progress in Quality Electronic Components in Washin
gton, D.C. on 7 May 1952.[48]
The first practical ICs were invented by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments and Rob
ert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor.[49] Kilby recorded his initial ideas conce

rning the integrated circuit in July 1958, successfully demonstrating the first
working integrated example on 12 September 1958.[50] In his patent application o
f 6 February 1959, Kilby described his new device as "a body of semiconductor ma
terial ... wherein all the components of the electronic circuit are completely i
ntegrated".[51][52] Noyce also came up with his own idea of an integrated circui
t half a year later than Kilby.[53] His chip solved many practical problems that
Kilby's had not. Produced at Fairchild Semiconductor, it was made of silicon, w
hereas Kilby's chip was made of germanium.
This new development heralded an explosion in the commercial and personal use of
computers and led to the invention of the microprocessor. While the subject of
exactly which device was the first microprocessor is contentious, partly due to
lack of agreement on the exact definition of the term "microprocessor", it is la
rgely undisputed that the first single-chip microprocessor was the Intel 4004,[5
4] designed and realized by Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin, and Stanley Mazor at Inte
l.[55]
Mobile computers become dominant
With the continued miniaturization of computing resources, and advancements in p
ortable battery life, portable computers grew in popularity in the 2000s.[56] Th
e same developments that spurred the growth of laptop computers and other portab
le computers allowed manufacturers to integrate computing resources into cellula
r phones. These so-called smartphones and tablets run on a variety of operating
systems and have become the dominant computing device on the market, with manufa
cturers reporting having shipped an estimated 237 million devices in 2Q 2013.[57
]
Programs
The defining feature of modern computers which distinguishes them from all other
machines is that they can be programmed. That is to say that some type of instr
uctions (the program) can be given to the computer, and it will process them. Mo
dern computers based on the von Neumann architecture often have machine code in
the form of an imperative programming language.
In practical terms, a computer program may be just a few instructions or extend
to many millions of instructions, as do the programs for word processors and web
browsers for example. A typical modern computer can execute billions of instruc
tions per second (gigaflops) and rarely makes a mistake over many years of opera
tion. Large computer programs consisting of several million instructions may tak
e teams of programmers years to write, and due to the complexity of the task alm
ost certainly contain errors.
Stored program architecture
Main articles: Computer program and Computer programming
Replica of the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), the world's first stored
-program computer, at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England
This section applies to most common RAM machine-based computers.
In most cases, computer instructions are simple: add one number to another, move
some data from one location to another, send a message to some external device,
etc. These instructions are read from the computer's memory and are generally c
arried out (executed) in the order they were given. However, there are usually s
pecialized instructions to tell the computer to jump ahead or backwards to some
other place in the program and to carry on executing from there. These are calle
d "jump" instructions (or branches). Furthermore, jump instructions may be made
to happen conditionally so that different sequences of instructions may be used
depending on the result of some previous calculation or some external event. Man
y computers directly support subroutines by providing a type of jump that "remem
bers" the location it jumped from and another instruction to return to the instr

uction following that jump instruction.

Program execution might be likened to reading a book. While a person will normal
ly read each word and line in sequence, they may at times jump back to an earlie
r place in the text or skip sections that are not of interest. Similarly, a comp
uter may sometimes go back and repeat the instructions in some section of the pr
ogram over and over again until some internal condition is met. This is called t
he flow of control within the program and it is what allows the computer to perf
orm tasks repeatedly without human intervention.
Comparatively, a person using a pocket calculator can perform a basic arithmetic
operation such as adding two numbers with just a few button presses. But to add
together all of the numbers from 1 to 1,000 would take thousands of button pres
ses and a lot of time, with a near certainty of making a mistake. On the other h
and, a computer may be programmed to do this with just a few simple instructions
. The following example is written in the MIPS assembly language:
begin:
addi $8, $0, 0
# initialize sum to 0
addi $9, $0, 1
# set first number to add = 1
loop:
slti $10, $9, 1000
# check if the number is less than 1000
beq $10, $0, finish
# if odd number is greater than n then exit
add $8, $8, $9
# update sum
addi $9, $9, 1
# get next number
j loop
# repeat the summing process
finish:
add $2, $8, $0
# put sum in output register
Once told to run this program, the computer will perform the repetitive addition
task without further human intervention. It will almost never make a mistake an
d a modern PC can complete the task in a fraction of a second.
Machine code
In most computers, individual instructions are stored as machine code with each
instruction being given a unique number (its operation code or opcode for short)
. The command to add two numbers together would have one opcode; the command to
multiply them would have a different opcode, and so on. The simplest computers a
re able to perform any of a handful of different instructions; the more complex
computers have several hundred to choose from, each with a unique numerical code
. Since the computer's memory is able to store numbers, it can also store the in
struction codes. This leads to the important fact that entire programs (which ar
e just lists of these instructions) can be represented as lists of numbers and c
an themselves be manipulated inside the computer in the same way as numeric data
. The fundamental concept of storing programs in the computer's memory alongside
the data they operate on is the crux of the von Neumann, or stored program[cita
tion needed], architecture. In some cases, a computer might store some or all of
its program in memory that is kept separate from the data it operates on. This
is called the Harvard architecture after the Harvard Mark I computer. Modern von
Neumann computers display some traits of the Harvard architecture in their desi
gns, such as in CPU caches.
While it is possible to write computer programs as long lists of numbers (machin
e language) and while this technique was used with many early computers,[58] it
is extremely tedious and potentially error-prone to do so in practice, especiall
y for complicated programs. Instead, each basic instruction can be given a short
name that is indicative of its function and easy to remember
a mnemonic such as
ADD, SUB, MULT or JUMP. These mnemonics are collectively known as a computer's
assembly language. Converting programs written in assembly language into somethi
ng the computer can actually understand (machine language) is usually done by a
computer program called an assembler.

A 1970s punched card containing one line from a FORTRAN program. The card reads:
"Z(1) = Y + W(1)" and is labeled "PROJ039" for identification purposes.
Programming language
Main article: Programming language
Programming languages provide various ways of specifying programs for computers
to run. Unlike natural languages, programming languages are designed to permit n
o ambiguity and to be concise. They are purely written languages and are often d
ifficult to read aloud. They are generally either translated into machine code b
y a compiler or an assembler before being run, or translated directly at run tim
e by an interpreter. Sometimes programs are executed by a hybrid method of the t
wo techniques.
Low-level languages
Main article: Low-level programming language
Machine languages and the assembly languages that represent them (collectively t
ermed low-level programming languages) tend to be unique to a particular type of
computer. For instance, an ARM architecture computer (such as may be found in a
PDA or a hand-held videogame) cannot understand the machine language of an Inte
l Pentium or the AMD Athlon 64 computer that might be in a PC.[59]
High-level languages/Third Generation Language
Main article: High-level programming language
Though considerably easier than in machine language, writing long programs in as
sembly language is often difficult and is also error prone. Therefore, most prac
tical programs are written in more abstract high-level programming languages tha
t are able to express the needs of the programmer more conveniently (and thereby
help reduce programmer error). High level languages are usually "compiled" into
machine language (or sometimes into assembly language and then into machine lan
guage) using another computer program called a compiler.[60] High level language
s are less related to the workings of the target computer than assembly language
, and more related to the language and structure of the problem(s) to be solved
by the final program. It is therefore often possible to use different compilers
to translate the same high level language program into the machine language of m
any different types of computer. This is part of the means by which software lik
e video games may be made available for different computer architectures such as
personal computers and various video game consoles.
Fourth Generation Languages
These 4G languages are less procedural than 3G languages. The benefit of 4GL is
that it provides ways to obtain information without requiring the direct help of
a programmer. Example of 4GL is SQL.
Program design
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by addi
ng citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and remov
ed. (July 2012)
Program design of small programs is relatively simple and involves the analysis
of the problem, collection of inputs, using the programming constructs within la
nguages, devising or using established procedures and algorithms, providing data
for output devices and solutions to the problem as applicable. As problems beco
me larger and more complex, features such as subprograms, modules, formal docume
ntation, and new paradigms such as object-oriented programming are encountered.
Large programs involving thousands of line of code and more require formal softw
are methodologies. The task of developing large software systems presents a sign
ificant intellectual challenge. Producing software with an acceptably high relia
bility within a predictable schedule and budget has historically been difficult;
the academic and professional discipline of software engineering concentrates s

pecifically on this challenge.

Bugs
Main article: Software bug
The actual first computer bug, a moth found trapped on a relay of the Harvard Ma
rk II computer
Errors in computer programs are called "bugs". They may be benign and not affect
the usefulness of the program, or have only subtle effects. But in some cases,
they may cause the program or the entire system to "hang", becoming unresponsive
to input such as mouse clicks or keystrokes, to completely fail, or to crash. O
therwise benign bugs may sometimes be harnessed for malicious intent by an unscr
upulous user writing an exploit, code designed to take advantage of a bug and di
srupt a computer's proper execution. Bugs are usually not the fault of the compu
ter. Since computers merely execute the instructions they are given, bugs are ne
arly always the result of programmer error or an oversight made in the program's
design.[61]
Admiral Grace Hopper, an American computer scientist and developer of the first
compiler, is credited for having first used the term "bugs" in computing after a
dead moth was found shorting a relay in the Harvard Mark II computer in Septemb
er 1947.[62]
Components
Main articles: Central processing unit and Microprocessor
File:Computer Components.webm
Video demonstrating the standard components of a "slimline" computer
A general purpose computer has four main components: the arithmetic logic unit (
ALU), the control unit, the memory, and the input and output devices (collective
ly termed I/O). These parts are interconnected by buses, often made of groups of
wires.
Inside each of these parts are thousands to trillions of small electrical circui
ts which can be turned off or on by means of an electronic switch. Each circuit
represents a bit (binary digit) of information so that when the circuit is on it
represents a "1", and when off it represents a "0" (in positive logic represent
ation). The circuits are arranged in logic gates so that one or more of the circ
uits may control the state of one or more of the other circuits.
Control unit
Main articles: CPU design and Control unit
Diagram showing how a particular MIPS architecture instruction would be decoded
by the control system
The control unit (often called a control system or central controller) manages t
he computer's various components; it reads and interprets (decodes) the program
instructions, transforming them into control signals that activate other parts o
f the computer.[63] Control systems in advanced computers may change the order o
f execution of some instructions to improve performance.
A key component common to all CPUs is the program counter, a special memory cell
(a register) that keeps track of which location in memory the next instruction
is to be read from.[64]
The control system's function is as follows note that this is a simplified descrip
tion, and some of these steps may be performed concurrently or in a different or
der depending on the type of CPU:
Read the code for the next instruction from the cell indicated by the program co
unter.

Decode the numerical code for the instruction into a set of commands or signals
for each of the other systems.
Increment the program counter so it points to the next instruction.
Read whatever data the instruction requires from cells in memory (or perhaps fro
m an input device). The location of this required data is typically stored withi
n the instruction code.
Provide the necessary data to an ALU or register.
If the instruction requires an ALU or specialized hardware to complete, instruct
the hardware to perform the requested operation.
Write the result from the ALU back to a memory location or to a register or perh
aps an output device.
Jump back to step (1).
Since the program counter is (conceptually) just another set of memory cells, it
can be changed by calculations done in the ALU. Adding 100 to the program count
er would cause the next instruction to be read from a place 100 locations furthe
r down the program. Instructions that modify the program counter are often known
as "jumps" and allow for loops (instructions that are repeated by the computer)
and often conditional instruction execution (both examples of control flow).
The sequence of operations that the control unit goes through to process an inst
ruction is in itself like a short computer program, and indeed, in some more com
plex CPU designs, there is another yet smaller computer called a microsequencer,
which runs a microcode program that causes all of these events to happen.
Central Processing unit (CPU)
The control unit, ALU, and registers are collectively known as a central process
ing unit (CPU). Early CPUs were composed of many separate components but since t
he mid-1970s CPUs have typically been constructed on a single integrated circuit
called a microprocessor.
Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
Main article: Arithmetic logic unit
The ALU is capable of performing two classes of operations: arithmetic and logic
.[65]
The set of arithmetic operations that a particular ALU supports may be limited t
o addition and subtraction, or might include multiplication, division, trigonome
try functions such as sine, cosine, etc., and square roots. Some can only operat
e on whole numbers (integers) whilst others use floating point to represent real
numbers, albeit with limited precision. However, any computer that is capable o
f performing just the simplest operations can be programmed to break down the mo
re complex operations into simple steps that it can perform. Therefore, any comp
uter can be programmed to perform any arithmetic operation although it will take m
ore time to do so if its ALU does not directly support the operation. An ALU may
also compare numbers and return boolean truth values (true or false) depending
on whether one is equal to, greater than or less than the other ("is 64 greater
than 65?").
Logic operations involve Boolean logic: AND, OR, XOR, and NOT. These can be usef
ul for creating complicated conditional statements and processing boolean logic.
Superscalar computers may contain multiple ALUs, allowing them to process severa
l instructions simultaneously.[66] Graphics processors and computers with SIMD a
nd MIMD features often contain ALUs that can perform arithmetic on vectors and m
atrices.
Memory
Main article: Computer data storage
Magnetic core memory was the computer memory of choice throughout the 1960s, unt

il it was replaced by semiconductor memory.

A computer's memory can be viewed as a list of cells into which numbers can be p
laced or read. Each cell has a numbered "address" and can store a single number.
The computer can be instructed to "put the number 123 into the cell numbered 13
57" or to "add the number that is in cell 1357 to the number that is in cell 246
8 and put the answer into cell 1595." The information stored in memory may repre
sent practically anything. Letters, numbers, even computer instructions can be p
laced into memory with equal ease. Since the CPU does not differentiate between
different types of information, it is the software's responsibility to give sign
ificance to what the memory sees as nothing but a series of numbers.
In almost all modern computers, each memory cell is set up to store binary numbe
rs in groups of eight bits (called a byte). Each byte is able to represent 256 d
ifferent numbers (2^8 = 256); either from 0 to 255 or -128 to +127. To store lar
ger numbers, several consecutive bytes may be used (typically, two, four or eigh
t). When negative numbers are required, they are usually stored in two's complem
ent notation. Other arrangements are possible, but are usually not seen outside
of specialized applications or historical contexts. A computer can store any kin
d of information in memory if it can be represented numerically. Modern computer
s have billions or even trillions of bytes of memory.
The CPU contains a special set of memory cells called registers that can be read
and written to much more rapidly than the main memory area. There are typically
between two and one hundred registers depending on the type of CPU. Registers a
re used for the most frequently needed data items to avoid having to access main
memory every time data is needed. As data is constantly being worked on, reduci
ng the need to access main memory (which is often slow compared to the ALU and c
ontrol units) greatly increases the computer's speed.
Computer main memory comes in two principal varieties:
random-access memory or RAM
read-only memory or ROM
RAM can be read and written to anytime the CPU commands it, but ROM is preloaded
with data and software that never changes, therefore the CPU can only read from
it. ROM is typically used to store the computer's initial start-up instructions
. In general, the contents of RAM are erased when the power to the computer is t
urned off, but ROM retains its data indefinitely. In a PC, the ROM contains a sp
ecialized program called the BIOS that orchestrates loading the computer's opera
ting system from the hard disk drive into RAM whenever the computer is turned on
or reset. In embedded computers, which frequently do not have disk drives, all
of the required software may be stored in ROM. Software stored in ROM is often c
alled firmware, because it is notionally more like hardware than software. Flash
memory blurs the distinction between ROM and RAM, as it retains its data when t
urned off but is also rewritable. It is typically much slower than conventional
ROM and RAM however, so its use is restricted to applications where high speed i
s unnecessary.[67]
In more sophisticated computers there may be one or more RAM cache memories, whi
ch are slower than registers but faster than main memory. Generally computers wi
th this sort of cache are designed to move frequently needed data into the cache
automatically, often without the need for any intervention on the programmer's
part.
Input/output (I/O)
Main article: Input/output
Hard disk drives are common storage devices used with computers.
I/O is the means by which a computer exchanges information with the outside worl
d.[68] Devices that provide input or output to the computer are called periphera

ls.[69] On a typical personal computer, peripherals include input devices like t

he keyboard and mouse, and output devices such as the display and printer. Hard
disk drives, floppy disk drives and optical disc drives serve as both input and
output devices. Computer networking is another form of I/O.
I/O devices are often complex computers in their own right, with their own CPU a
nd memory. A graphics processing unit might contain fifty or more tiny computers
that perform the calculations necessary to display 3D graphics.[citation needed
] Modern desktop computers contain many smaller computers that assist the main C
PU in performing I/O.
Multitasking
Main article: Computer multitasking
While a computer may be viewed as running one gigantic program stored in its mai
n memory, in some systems it is necessary to give the appearance of running seve
ral programs simultaneously. This is achieved by multitasking i.e. having the co
mputer switch rapidly between running each program in turn.[70]
One means by which this is done is with a special signal called an interrupt, wh
ich can periodically cause the computer to stop executing instructions where it
was and do something else instead. By remembering where it was executing prior t
o the interrupt, the computer can return to that task later. If several programs
are running "at the same time". then the interrupt generator might be causing s
everal hundred interrupts per second, causing a program switch each time. Since
modern computers typically execute instructions several orders of magnitude fast
er than human perception, it may appear that many programs are running at the sa
me time even though only one is ever executing in any given instant. This method
of multitasking is sometimes termed "time-sharing" since each program is alloca
ted a "slice" of time in turn.[71]
Before the era of cheap computers, the principal use for multitasking was to all
ow many people to share the same computer.
Seemingly, multitasking would cause a computer that is switching between several
programs to run more slowly, in direct proportion to the number of programs it
is running, but most programs spend much of their time waiting for slow input/ou
tput devices to complete their tasks. If a program is waiting for the user to cl
ick on the mouse or press a key on the keyboard, then it will not take a "time s
lice" until the event it is waiting for has occurred. This frees up time for oth
er programs to execute so that many programs may be run simultaneously without u
nacceptable speed loss.
Multiprocessing
Main article: Multiprocessing
Cray designed many supercomputers that used multiprocessing heavily.
Some computers are designed to distribute their work across several CPUs in a mu
ltiprocessing configuration, a technique once employed only in large and powerfu
l machines such as supercomputers, mainframe computers and servers. Multiprocess
or and multi-core (multiple CPUs on a single integrated circuit) personal and la
ptop computers are now widely available, and are being increasingly used in lowe
r-end markets as a result.
Supercomputers in particular often have highly unique architectures that differ
significantly from the basic stored-program architecture and from general purpos
e computers.[72] They often feature thousands of CPUs, customized high-speed int
erconnects, and specialized computing hardware. Such designs tend to be useful o
nly for specialized tasks due to the large scale of program organization require
d to successfully utilize most of the available resources at once. Supercomputer
s usually see usage in large-scale simulation, graphics rendering, and cryptogra

phy applications, as well as with other so-called "embarrassingly parallel" task

s.
Networking and the Internet
Main articles: Computer networking and Internet
Visualization of a portion of the routes on the Internet
Computers have been used to coordinate information between multiple locations si
nce the 1950s. The U.S. military's SAGE system was the first large-scale example
of such a system, which led to a number of special-purpose commercial systems s
uch as Sabre.[73]
In the 1970s, computer engineers at research institutions throughout the United
States began to link their computers together using telecommunications technolog
y. The effort was funded by ARPA (now DARPA), and the computer network that resu
lted was called the ARPANET.[74] The technologies that made the Arpanet possible
spread and evolved.
In time, the network spread beyond academic and military institutions and became
known as the Internet. The emergence of networking involved a redefinition of t
he nature and boundaries of the computer. Computer operating systems and applica
tions were modified to include the ability to define and access the resources of
other computers on the network, such as peripheral devices, stored information,
and the like, as extensions of the resources of an individual computer. Initial
ly these facilities were available primarily to people working in high-tech envi
ronments, but in the 1990s the spread of applications like e-mail and the World
Wide Web, combined with the development of cheap, fast networking technologies l
ike Ethernet and ADSL saw computer networking become almost ubiquitous. In fact,
the number of computers that are networked is growing phenomenally. A very larg
e proportion of personal computers regularly connect to the Internet to communic
ate and receive information. "Wireless" networking, often utilizing mobile phone
networks, has meant networking is becoming increasingly ubiquitous even in mobi
le computing environments.
Computer architecture paradigms
There are many types of computer architectures:
Quantum computer vs. Chemical computer
Scalar processor vs. Vector processor
Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) computers
Register machine vs. Stack machine
Harvard architecture vs. von Neumann architecture
Cellular architecture
Of all these abstract machines, a quantum computer holds the most promise for re
volutionizing computing.[75]
Logic gates are a common abstraction which can apply to most of the above digita
l or analog paradigms.
The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes com
puters extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church Turin
g thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a mi
nimum capability (being Turing-complete) is, in principle, capable of performing
the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore, any type of comp
uter (netbook, supercomputer, cellular automaton, etc.) is able to perform the s
ame computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.
Misconceptions
Main articles: Human computer and Harvard Computers

Women as computers in NACA High Speed Flight Station "Computer Room"

A computer does not need to be electronic, nor even have a processor, nor RAM, n
or even a hard disk. While popular usage of the word "computer" is synonymous wi
th a personal electronic computer, the modern[76] definition of a computer is li
terally: "A device that computes, especially a programmable [usually] electronic
machine that performs high-speed mathematical or logical operations or that ass
embles, stores, correlates, or otherwise processes information."[77] Any device
which processes information qualifies as a computer, especially if the processin
g is purposeful.[citation needed]
Unconventional computing
Main article: Unconventional computing
Historically, computers evolved from mechanical computers and eventually from va
cuum tubes to transistors. However, conceptually computational systems as flexib
le as a personal computer can be built out of almost anything. For example, a co
mputer can be made out of billiard balls (billiard ball computer); an often quot
ed example.[citation needed] More realistically, modern computers are made out o
f transistors made of photolithographed semiconductors.
Future
There is active research to make computers out of many promising new types of te
chnology, such as optical computers, DNA computers, neural computers, and quantu
m computers. Most computers are universal, and are able to calculate any computa
ble function, and are limited only by their memory capacity and operating speed.
However different designs of computers can give very different performance for
particular problems; for example quantum computers can potentially break some mo
dern encryption algorithms (by quantum factoring) very quickly.
Further topics
Glossary of computers
Artificial intelligence
A computer will solve problems in exactly the way it is programmed to, without r
egard to efficiency, alternative solutions, possible shortcuts, or possible erro
rs in the code. Computer programs that learn and adapt are part of the emerging
field of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Hardware
Main articles: Computer hardware and Personal computer hardware
The term hardware covers all of those parts of a computer that are tangible obje
cts. Circuits, displays, power supplies, cables, keyboards, printers and mice ar
e all hardware.
History of computing hardware
Main article: History of computing hardware
First generation (mechanical/electromechanical) Calculators
Pascal's calcula
tor, Arithmometer, Difference engine, Quevedo's analytical machines
Programmable devices
Jacquard loom, Analytical engine, IBM ASCC/Harvard Mark
I, Harvard Mark II, IBM SSEC, Z1, Z2, Z3
Second generation (vacuum tubes)
Calculators
Atanasoff Berry Computer,
IBM 604, UNIVAC 60, UNIVAC 120
Programmable devices
Colossus, ENIAC, Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Mac
hine, EDSAC, Manchester Mark 1, Ferranti Pegasus, Ferranti Mercury, CSIRAC, EDVA
C, UNIVAC I, IBM 701, IBM 702, IBM 650, Z22
Third generation (discrete transistors and SSI, MSI, LSI integrated circuits)
Mainframes
IBM 7090, IBM 7080, IBM System/360, BUNCH
Minicomputer
HP 2116A, IBM System/32, IBM System/36, LINC, PDP-8, PDP-11
Fourth generation (VLSI integrated circuits)
Minicomputer
VAX, IBM System
i
4-bit microcomputer
Intel 4004, Intel 4040
8-bit microcomputer
Intel 8008, Intel 8080, Motorola 6800, Motorola 6809, MO

S Technology 6502, Zilog Z80

16-bit microcomputer
Intel 8088, Zilog Z8000, WDC 65816/65802
32-bit microcomputer
Intel 80386, Pentium, Motorola 68000, ARM
64-bit microcomputer[78]
Alpha, MIPS, PA-RISC, PowerPC, SPARC, x86-64, AR
Mv8-A
Embedded computer
Intel 8048, Intel 8051
Personal computer
Desktop computer, Home computer, Laptop computer, Person
al digital assistant (PDA), Portable computer, Tablet PC, Wearable computer
Theoretical/experimental
Quantum computer, Chemical computer, DNA computi
ng, Optical computer, Spintronics based computer
Other hardware topics
Peripheral device (input/output)
Input Mouse, keyboard, joystick, image
scanner, webcam, graphics tablet, microphone
Output Monitor, printer, loudspeaker
Both
Floppy disk drive, hard disk drive, optical disc drive, teleprinter
Computer buses Short range
RS-232, SCSI, PCI, USB
Long range (computer networking)
Ethernet, ATM, FDDI
Software
Main article: Computer software
Software refers to parts of the computer which do not have a material form, such
as programs, data, protocols, etc. When software is stored in hardware that can
not easily be modified (such as BIOS ROM in an IBM PC compatible), it is sometim
es called "firmware".
Operating system /System Software
Unix and BSD
UNIX System V, IBM AIX,
HP-UX, Solaris (SunOS), IRIX, List of BSD operating systems
GNU/Linux
List of Linux distributions, Comparison of Linux distributions
Microsoft Windows
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Window
s Me, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
DOS
86-DOS (QDOS), IBM PC DOS, MS-DOS, DR-DOS, FreeDOS
Mac OS Mac OS classic, Mac OS X
Embedded and real-time List of embedded operating systems
Experimental
Amoeba, Oberon/Bluebottle, Plan 9 from Bell Labs
Library Multimedia
DirectX, OpenGL, OpenAL, Vulkan_(API)
Programming library
C standard library, Standard Template Library
Data
Protocol
TCP/IP, Kermit, FTP, HTTP, SMTP
File format
HTML, XML, JPEG, MPEG, PNG
User interface Graphical user interface (WIMP) Microsoft Windows, GNOME, KDE, Q
NX Photon, CDE, GEM, Aqua
Text-based user interface
Command-line interface, Text user interface
Application Software
Office suite
Word processing, Desktop publishing, Pre
sentation program, Database management system, Scheduling & Time management, Spr
eadsheet, Accounting software
Internet Access Browser, E-mail client, Web server, Mail transfer agent, Instant
messaging
Design and manufacturing
Computer-aided design, Computer-aided manufactur
ing, Plant management, Robotic manufacturing, Supply chain management
Graphics
Raster graphics editor, Vector graphics editor, 3D modeler, Anim
ation editor, 3D computer graphics, Video editing, Image processing
Audio Digital audio editor, Audio playback, Mixing, Audio synthesis, Computer
music
Software engineering
Compiler, Assembler, Interpreter, Debugger, Text editor,
Integrated development environment, Software performance analysis, Revision con
trol, Software configuration management
Educational
Edutainment, Educational game, Serious game, Flight simulator
Games Strategy, Arcade, Puzzle, Simulation, First-person shooter, Platform, Ma
ssively multiplayer, Interactive fiction
Misc
Artificial intelligence, Antivirus software, Malware scanner, Installer/
Package management systems, File manager
Languages

There are thousands of different programming languages some intended to be general

purpose, others useful only for highly specialized applications.
Programming languages
Lists of programming languages Timeline of programming languages, List of progr
amming languages by category, Generational list of programming languages, List o
f programming languages, Non-English-based programming languages
Commonly used assembly languages
ARM, MIPS, x86
Commonly used high-level programming languages Ada, BASIC, C, C++, C#, COBOL, F
ortran, PL/1, REXX, Java, Lisp, Pascal, Object Pascal
Commonly used scripting languages
Bourne script, JavaScript, Python, Ruby,
PHP, Perl
Firmware
Firmware is the technology which has the combination of both hardware and softwa
re such as BIOS chip inside a computer. This chip (hardware) is located on the m
otherboard and has the BIOS set up (software) stored in it.
Types of computers
Computers are typically classified based on their uses:
Based on uses
Analog computer
Digital computer
Hybrid computer
Based on sizes
Micro computer
Personal computer
Mini Computer
Mainframe computer
Super computer
Input Devices
When unprocessed data is sent to the computer with the help of input devices, th
e data is processed and sent to output devices. The input devices may be hand-op
erated or automated. The act of processing is mainly regulated by the CPU. Some
examples of hand-operated input devices are:
Overlay keyboard
Trackball
Joystick
Digital camera
Microphone
Touchscreen
Digital video
Image scanner
Graphics tablet
Computer keyboard
Mouse
Output Devices
The means through which computer gives output are known as output devices. Some
examples of output devices are:
Computer monitor
Printer
Projector
Sound card
PC speaker
Video card
Professions and organizations
As the use of computers has spread throughout society, there are an increasing n
umber of careers involving computers.

Computer-related professions
Hardware-related
Electrical engineering, Electronic engineering, Computer
engineering, Telecommunications engineering, Optical engineering, Nanoengineeri
ng
Software-related
Computer science, Computer engineering, Desktop publishi
ng, Human computer interaction, Information technology, Information systems, Compu
tational science, Software engineering, Video game industry, Web design
The need for computers to work well together and to be able to exchange informat
ion has spawned the need for many standards organizations, clubs and societies o
f both a formal and informal nature.
Organizations
Standards groups
ANSI, IEC, IEEE, IETF, ISO, W3C
Professional societies ACM, AIS, IET, IFIP, BCS
Free/open source software groups
Free Software Foundation, Mozilla Founda
tion, Apache Software Foundation
See also
Portal icon
Information technology portal
Computability theory
Computer insecurity
Computer security
List of computer term etymologies
List of fictional computers
Pulse computation
TOP500 (list of most powerful computers)
Notes
Jump up ^ In 1946, ENIAC required an estimated 174 kW. By comparison, a modern l
aptop computer may use around 30 W; nearly six thousand times less. "Approximate
Desktop & Notebook Power Usage". University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 20 June
2009.
Jump up ^ Early computers such as Colossus and ENIAC were able to process betwee
n 5 and 100 operations per second. A modern commodity microprocessor (as of 2007)
can process billions of operations per second, and many of these operations are
more complicated and useful than early computer operations. "Intel Core2 Duo Mob
ile Processor: Features". Intel Corporation. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
Jump up ^ "computer, n.". Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.). Oxford University P
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Jump up ^ According to Schmandt-Besserat 1981, these clay containers contained t
okens, the total of which were the count of objects being transferred. The conta
iners thus served as something of a bill of lading or an accounts book. In order
to avoid breaking open the containers, first, clay impressions of the tokens we
re placed on the outside of the containers, for the count; the shapes of the imp
ressions were abstracted into stylized marks; finally, the abstract marks were s
ystematically used as numerals; these numerals were finally formalized as number
s. Eventually (Schmandt-Besserat estimates it took 4000 years[dead link]) the ma
rks on the outside of the containers were all that were needed to convey the cou
nt, and the clay containers evolved into clay tablets with marks for the count.
Jump up ^ Robson, Eleanor (2008), Mathematics in Ancient Iraq, ISBN 978-0-691-09
182-2. p.5: calculi were in use in Iraq for primitive accounting systems as earl
y as 3200 3000 BCE, with commodity-specific counting representation systems. Balan
ced accounting was in use by 3000 2350 BCE, and a sexagesimal number system was in
use 2350 2000 BCE.
Jump up ^ The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, The Antikythera Mechanism
Research Project. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
Jump up ^ G. Wiet, V. Elisseeff, P. Wolff, J. Naudu (1975). History of Mankind,
Vol 3: The Great medieval Civilisations, p. 649. George Allen & Unwin Ltd, UNESC
O.
Jump up ^ Fuat Sezgin "Catalogue of the Exhibition of the Institute for the Hist
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urt, Germany) Frankfurt Book Fair 2004, p.35 & 38.

Jump up ^ Franois Charette, Archaeology: High tech from Ancient Greece, Nature 44
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e Astrarium of Giovanni de' Dondi", Transactions of the American Philosophical S
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Jump up ^ D. De S. Price (1984). "A History of Calculating Machines", IEEE Micro
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Jump up ^ Tuncer Oren (2001). "Advances in Computer and Information Sciences: Fr
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Jump up ^ Donald Routledge Hill (1985). "Al-Biruni's mechanical calendar", Annal
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Jump up ^ The Writer Automaton, Switzerland
^ Jump up to: a b Ray Girvan, "The revealed grace of the mechanism: computing af
ter Babbage", Scientific Computing World, May/June 2003
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Jump up ^ "Let's build Babbage's ultimate mechanical computer". opinion. New Sci
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^ Jump up to: a b c d "The Modern History of Computing". Stanford Encyclopedia o
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Jump up ^ Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society
Jump up ^ "von Neumann ... firmly emphasized to me, and to others I am sure, tha
t the fundamental conception is owing to Turing insofar as not anticipated by Babb
age, Lovelace and others." Letter by Stanley Frankel to Brian Randell, 1972, quo
ted in Jack Copeland (2004) The Essential Turing, p22.
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panel of switches. However, this method was usually used only as part of the bo
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ot program from some non-volatile memory.
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s, which were often one-of-a-kind and totally incompatible with other computers.
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Interpreted languages are translated into machine code on the fly, while running

, by another program called an interpreter.

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produces unexpected results in certain situations. For instance, the Pentium FDI
V bug caused some Intel microprocessors in the early 1990s to produce inaccurate
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at in the past. Although the control unit is solely responsible for instruction
interpretation in most modern computers, this is not always the case. Some compu
ters have instructions that are partially interpreted by the control unit with f
urther interpretation performed by another device. For example, EDVAC, one of th
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preted four instructions. All of the arithmetic-related instructions were passed
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re wearing out, making it less useful for heavy random access usage. (Verma & Mi
elke 1988)
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y pieces of cheap commodity hardware; usually individual computers connected by
networks. These so-called computer clusters can often provide supercomputer perf
ormance at a much lower cost than customized designs. While custom architectures
are still used for most of the most powerful supercomputers, there has been a p
roliferation of cluster computers in recent years. (TOP500 2006)
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word computer dates back to the mid 17th century, when it referred to A person w
ho makes calculations; specifically a person employed for this in an observatory
etc.
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2012.
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